Hands On with Android Auto in the 2015 Hyundai Sonata

The very first car to hit the road with Android Auto, the 2015 Hyundai Sonata. The folks over at Hyundai USA, were nice enough to loan us a 2015 Hyundai Sonata Sport to test drive for the week and use Android Auto. We’ve been using it on a Pioneer head unit in my 2009 Chevy Aveo, and after just a few hours, there are some pretty big differences between using an after-market head unit and having the system built in. For one, there’s less stress on your device, as it is using the GPS in the car, and not your phone’s GPS.

We did get a hands-on demo of Android Auto in the Hyunda Sonata at the 2015 North American International Auto Show, however that was not a finished product, and it’s also a much different experience driving the car with Android Auto than just sitting in the car using a demo. Hyundai has worked pretty hard to make their implementation of Android Auto very fluid. In the short time I’ve had with the car, it’s much faster to start up, and just faster at doing everyday tasks.

Additionally the display in the Hyundai Sonata is much nicer. Not only does it look better, but it also is much more touch sensitive. So you don’t need to press the screen as hard as on the Pioneer AVH-4100NEX, which is pretty interesting, actually. Hyundai had said that they worked hard to implement Android Auto perfectly, and so far, it looks like they have done just that. Over the next week we’ll be doing lots of Android Auto content, including a comparison between our head unit and the Hyundai Sonata, as well as CarPlay vs Android Auto, which will be very interesting to see which OS has the better experience. Although we might be a little biased and think that Android Auto is better, just a fair heads up there.

Just a reminder, that if you haven’t already followed us on Periscope, make sure you do so. We did a Periscope earlier today on the Hyundai Sonata, which you can watch right here!